Submitted by philip on
By John Kyle, LBC Communications Director
Upon assuming the position of Executive Director on Feb. 1, 2005, David Hankins knew his new responsibilities would present challenges and opportunities – he just didn’t know they would come so quickly as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated much of south Louisiana during his first year.
Hankins was elected unanimously by the Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Board to be the Executive Director of the LBC in October, 2004. He officially assumed his duties on Feb. 1, 2005.
Prior to returning to Louisiana, where he had pastored Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles (1985-1995), he served Southern Baptists through the SBC Executive Committee in Nashville (1996-2004) as vice president of Convention Policy and vice president of the Cooperative Program.
Hankins and his wife Patty just celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary and have three grown sons: Andy, a businessman in Lake Charles; Eric, pastor of FBC, Oxford, Miss., and Adam, a surgeon in Mandeville.
Their brood of grandchildren has increased from 7 to 11 since returning to Louisiana as well as the addition of their first grand daughter-in-law.
The Louisiana Baptists Communications Team recently sat down with Hankins to reflect on the challenges, opportunities and blessings of the last decade.
How did you feel about returning to Louisiana?
If my memory is correct, I believe I told the Executive Board that I was a former Texan!
Patty and I were very excited to be back in Louisiana and were blessed by the gracious, welcoming attitude of the people.
There were some controversies that had been brewing for a while and who can forget the one-two punch of Katrina and Rita that happened 8 months into my tenure?
Those storms reshaped so much of what we did for a long time and provided many opportunities for ministry that had two immediate effects: 1) it made Baptists more welcome in south Louisiana, and 2) it made us forget about the controversies.
What sort of culture did you hope to establish in the state?
From the beginning, I have attempted to reassert the value of Baptist state conventions.
I think this is very necessary in a climate that tends to de-emphasize denominations. Baptists have a valuable heritage that maximizes personal relationship with Jesus, confidence in the truth of Scripture, and evangelism and missions.
We also recognize the centrality of the local church. It needs to be remembered that well over 90 percent of the ministry of Baptists in Louisiana takes place in the local congregation.
But we also highly value cooperative missions.
I have sought to strengthen all of our partnerships with churches, associations, national, and international enterprises.
What direction did you have in mind for the work of the state missions staff?
I wanted the staff, as well as the churches, to understand why we are here, why we exist, so I developed a mission statement that has guided our work over the last 10 years.
This statement was also reaffirmed in the final report of the President’s 2020 Commission and reads: “The Louisiana Baptist Convention exists to serve the Baptist churches in Louisiana as a catalyst for igniting a passion for Jesus and His kingdom, a consultant for strengthening the congregations, and a conduit for accomplishing cooperative missions.”
What have been the highlights of your ministry thus far?
I believe we have done reasonably well, by God’s grace, with the opportunities we have had.
Many of our ministries are reaching new levels of success, notably our church planting emphasis and Baptist collegiate work.
The decline in baptisms across the SBC has been a concern in Louisiana as well, but we are seeing a pattern of increase the last 4-5 years. We have many ministries that don’t get a lot of press, like assisting pastors and their families in crisis, that are making a real difference in people’s lives.
Also, hundreds of churches are being strengthened and mobilized with the help of our church health and missions resources.
In the last 10 years our nation has experienced great economic challenges. How have Louisiana Baptists weathered these times?
There are challenges. Cooperative Program receipts have been basically flat for the last decade.
This factor, plus our emphasis in moving more mission dollars to SBC national and international work, has impacted our resources.
However, Louisiana Baptists have been outstanding in their support of the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering which is averaging more than a 50 percent increase annually over the previous decade.
With the churches support of CP, GBO, and special gifts, and careful management by our team and board, we have achieved some remarkable things: we have renovated or rebuilt six BCM facilities, doubled the acreage at Tall Timbers and added two new facilities, and renovated the 55-year-old Baptist building in Alexandria.
All of this was done while strengthening our financial assets.
What’s next for Louisiana Baptists?
I am excited about achieving the goals of the 2020 Commission.
We are executing strategies to start 250-300 churches and see hundreds of others revitalized.
The People Group Engagement Task Force shows great promise in helping us reach into all the population groups in Louisiana.
Highways and Hedges, our multi-platform media strategy, is underway and gaining momentum.
I believe this year, under President Steve Horn’s leadership, will be a break out year for sustained, multi-year Cooperative Program growth.
Also, we are on track to provide 3 new BCM facilities and the GBO Conference Center at Tall Timbers within the next three years.
What’s next for you?
I think I’m definitely in the fourth quarter – but most games are finally won in the fourth quarter.
The opportunities before us are exciting and I look forward to advancing together with my Louisiana Baptist family.
Mostly, I want to remain faithful in proclaiming the message of Jesus that I first learned as a child and encouraging Louisiana Baptists to do the same.